British English and American English: Phonetic differences

 

British English and American English: Phonetic differences

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contents

 

Introduction………………………………………………………………………...3

Some basic differences between British English and American English ..………..5

1. Pronunciation Differences between British English and American English …...5

1.1. American pronunciation ………………………………………………………5

1.2. British pronunciation ………………………………………………………….5

2. Classification of main differences between British English and American English ……………………………………………………………………………..6

2.1. Differences in vowel pronunciation …………………………………………..6

2.1.1. The vowels of English ……………………………………………………....7

2.1.2. Change of diphthong [əʊ] to [oʊ] …………………………………………..8

2.1.3. Change of vowel [ɒ] ………………………………………………………...8

2.1.4. Change from [ju:] to [u:] …………………………………………………..10

2.1.5. Change of [æ] ……………………………………………………………...11

2.1.6. Minor changes ……………………………………………………………..12

2.1.6.1 Change of [I] and [aI] …………………………………………………….12

2.1.6.2 Changes of [i:] and [e] ……………………………………………………13

2.2. Differences in consonant pronunciation ……………………………………..13

2.2.1. Classifying the consonants sounds of English according to the manner and place of articulation ………………………………………………………………13

2.2.2. Pronunciation of letter t ……………………………………………………15

2.3. Rhotic accent ………………………………………………………………...16

2.4. Stress …………………………………………………………………………18

2.4.1. Change of stress ……………………………………………………………18

2.4.2. French loanwords ………………………………………………………….18

2.4.3. Ending –ate ………………………………………………………………...19

2.4.4. Suffixes -ary, -ory, -berry, and –mony …………………………………….20

2.5. Differences in articulation …………………………………………………...20

2.6. Intonation …………………………………………………………………….21

Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………..22

Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………...24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

The famous Irish linguist and playwright George Bernard Shaw said: “England and America are two countries separated by a common language”. This quote still rings true today and various differences between British and American English remain. Native speakers of both varieties have relatively few problems understanding one another, but there are several points at which British and American diverge.

 

The English language is spoken in Great Britain, the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand and the greater part of Canada. It is native to many who live in India, Israel, Malta and Ceylon. That’s why instead of «English» there are many «Englishes» — variations of the language. The two mostly commonly used versions of English are British and American English.

 

In the early part of the seventeenth century English settlers began to bring their language to America, and another series of changes began to take place. The settlers borrowed words from Indian languages for unknown trees and unfamiliar animals. Later they borrowed other words from settlers from other countries: French Dutch, etc. They made new combinations of English words, gave old English words entirely new meanings. Some of the new terms were needed, because there were new and un-English things to talk about. Others can be explained only on the general theory that languages are always changing, and American English is no exception.

 

Aside from the new vocabulary, differences in pronunciation, in grammatical construction, and especially in intonation developed. If the colonization had taken place a few centuries earlier, American might have become as different from English as French is from Italian. But the settlement occurred after the invention of printing, and continued through a period when the idea of educating everybody was making rapid progress. For a long time most of the books read in America came from England, and a surprising number of Americans read those books, in or out of school. Moreover, most of the colonists seem to have felt strong ties with England. In this they were unlike their Anglo-Saxon ancestors, who apparently made a clean break with their continental homes.

 

Prior to the Revolutionary War and American independence from the British in 1776, American and British accents were similar. Both were rhotic i.e. speakers pronounced the letter R in hard. Since 1776, the accents diverged but English accent in America has changed less drastically than accents in Britain.

 

Towards the end of the 18th century, non-rhotic speech took off in southern England, especially among the upper class; this "prestige" non-rhotic speech was standardized, and has been spreading in Britain ever since.

 

Most American accents, however, remained rhotic.

 

There are a few fascinating exceptions: New York and New England accents became non-rhotic, perhaps because of the region's British connections. Irish and Scottish accents, however, remained rhotic.

 

To be fair, both American and British English have several types of accents and there is no one true American or British accent.

 

American language is now essentially different from English. It is often very difficult to decide whether a book was written by an American or an English man. Even in speech it would be hard to prove that national differences are greater than some local differences in either country. On the whole, it now seems probable that the language habits of the two countries will grow more, rather than less, alike, although some differences will undoubtedly remain and others may develop. It also seems probable that there will be narrow-minded and snobbish people in both countries for some time to come. But generally speaking, anybody who learns to speak and write the standard English of his own country, and to regard that of the other country as a legitimate variety with certain interesting differences, will have little trouble wherever he goes.

 

There are several areas in which British and American spelling are different. The differences often come about because British English has tended to keep the spelling of words it has absorbed from other languages (e.g. French), while American English has adapted the spelling to reflect the way that the words actually sound when they're spoken.

 

The aim of the theme is to study deeply the differences of American and British English. There are thousands of differences in detail between British and American English, and occasionally they crowd together enough to make some difficulty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some basic differences between British English and American English

 

1. Pronunciation differences between British English and American English

One of the main difficulties a foreigner student may face when learning English pronunciation is the remarkable variety of accents. Like many other languages spoken in such a vast territory and by so many people, spoken English presents wide variation in pronunciation.

We use the term ‘accents’ to refer to differences in pronunciations. Pronunciation can vary with cultures, regions and speakers, but there are two major standard varieties in English pronunciation: British English and American English.

Within British English and American English there are also a variety of accents. Some of them have received more attention than others from phoneticians and phonologists. These are Received pronunciation (RP) and General American(GA).

 

1. American pronunciation

 

In the context of language learning, American pronunciation means General American (GA) pronunciation. This is the pronunciation used by educated Americans, on television and on radio. It is described in dictionaries of American English, such as the Merriam-Webster and Random House dictionaries.

Most Americans and Canadians speak something similar to General American. Whether you’re in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle or Toronto, you will generally hear the same accent. There are some regional differences, but they are usually very small. The only major exception is the South of the US (especially outside of big cities), which has its own distinct accent.

General American pronunciation is rhotic, which means that the letter r is always pronounced.

 

2. British pronunciation

 

When people talk about learning British pronunciation, they usually think of Received Pronunciation (RP). RP is the pronunciation of the British upper class; it is sometimes called the Queen’s English. This is the pronunciation that you will learn at a British language school; it is also the model taught in coursebooks and dictionaries from publishers like Oxford and Longman.

In the UK, only a small percentage of people speak something similar to RP — these are upper-class people, academics, actors, TV personalities, politicians and English teachers. Outside of these groups, RP-like pronunciation is used in the southeast of England — in the area near Oxford, Cambridge, Brighton and London.

 

“Normal” Britons usually speak with their local accents, which are often quite different from RP, and can be very hard to understand to untrained ears. 

RP is non-rhotic, which means that the letter r is usually “silent”, unless it is followed by a vowel.

 

 

2. Classification of main differences between British English and American English

 

Returning to the main differences between British English and American English, they can be summarized as follows.

 

1. Differences in vowel pronunciation. The most relevant ones are change of diphthong [əʊ], change of [ɒ], change of [æ], and change of [ju:].

 

2. Differences in consonant pronunciation. This mainly involves the different pronunciations of letter t.

 

3. The presence of rhotic accent.

 

4. Change of stress. This comprises the change of stress in French loanwords, and certain suffixes such as -ate and -atory.

 

5. Differences in articulation. American English has a clear tendency to pronounce unstressed syllables where British English does not show such a disposition.

 

 

 

2.1. Differences in vowel pronunciation

 

 

2.1.1. The vowels of English

 

Most of the differences between British and American English are

to do with the quality and length of the vowels. The most significant differences are explained in the footnotes.

 

Table 1. The Vowels of English

 

Front vowels  (tongue body is pushed forward)	Central vowels  (tongue body is neutral)	Back vowels  (tongue body is pulled back)
High/close vowels  (tongue body is raised)	/i:/ see  /I/ sit		/u:/ boot  /ʊ/ book
Mid vowels  (tongue body is intermediate)	/e/ bait*  /ε/ bet	/ə/ sofa**, /3:/ bird	/o/ boat*  /ɔ:/ bought***
Low/open vowels  (tongue body is lowered)	/æ/ bat	/Λ/ under**	/ɑ:/ father, /ɒ/ sock(BrE)

 

*In some American accents (especially Californian English), vowel sounds in words such as bait, gate, pane and boat, coat, note are not consider diphthongs. American phonologists often class them as tense monophthongs (/e/ and /o/).

 
**/ə/ is used in unstressed syllables, while /Λ/ is in stressed syllables. The vowel /Λ/ used to be a back vowel, and the symbol was chosen for this reason. This is no longer a back vowel, but a central one.

 
***A considerable amount of Americans don't have the deep /ɔ:/ in their vocabulary, they pronouce bought, ball, law with the deep /ɑ:/ sound.

According to the position of the lips:

• English front and central vowels are always unrounded.
• English back vowels /u:/, /ʊ/, /o/, /ɔ:/ are rounded (/ɑ:/ vowel is unrounded).

Vowel Tenseness:

• Tense vowels (produced with a great amount of muscular tension): / i:/, /ɔ:/, /u:/, /3:/, /ɑ:/. Tense vowels are variable in length, and often longer than lax vowels.
• Lax vowels (produced with very little muscular tension): /I/, /ε/, /æ/, /ʊ/, /ɒ/, /Λ/, /ə/. Lax vowels are always short.

 

 

2.1.2. Change of diphthong [əʊ] to [oʊ]

 

The shift from the British diphthong [əʊ] to [oʊ] is also very distinguishing. The shift consisted in the change of the mid central unrounded vowel [ə] to the close-mid back rounded vowel [o] in the first vowel of the diphthong. This shift is considered to be systematic.

 

Table 2. Change of Diphthong [əʊ] to [oʊ]

 

Word                       RP                              GA

                                                   

Go                         [gəʊ]                             [goʊ]

No                         [nəʊ]                             [noʊ]

Crow                     [krəʊ]                            [kroʊ]

Cocoa                   [ˈkəʊkəʊ]                    [ˈkoʊkoʊ]

Component           [kəmˈpəʊnənt]            [kəmˈpoʊnənt]

Promotion            [prəˈməʊSn]                [prəˈmʊSn]

Romantic               [rəʊˈmæntIk]               [roʊˈmæntIk]

 

 

2.1.3. Change of vowel [ɒ]

 

Letter o is pronounced in many different ways in English. Here we have a few illustrative examples of such diversity: Hot [ht] ɒ in RP, but [h t] in GA;

love [lΛv]; corn [kɔ:n] in RP, but [kɔ:rn] in GA; continue [kənˈtInju:]; moon [mu:n]; coast [kəʊst] in RP, but [koʊt] in GA; house [haʊs]. The so-called “short o”, which often appears in a stressed syllable with one letter o such as in dog or model, underwent a change in American English. In British English that sound is pronounced as an open back rounded short sound [ɒ], as in hot [hɒt], or possible [ˈpɒsəbl]. In American English it is pronounced either as an open back unrounded long sound [ɒ:], as in hot [hɒ:t], or as an open-mid back rounded long vowel [ɔ:], as in dog [dɔ:g]. Note that British English prefers a short sound as opposed to American English, which prefers a long sound in all cases. Table 3 shows several words in both pronunciations.

 

Table 3. Change of vowel [ɒ] to [ɒ:] and [ɔ:].

 

Word                           British English                       American English

 

Box                             [bɒks]                                    [bɒ:ks]

Chocolate                    [ˈʧɒklət]                              [ˈʧ ɒ:kl t] or [ˈʧɔ:klət]

Clock                           [klɒk]                                     [klɒ:kl]

Cost                             [kɒst]                                       [kɔ:st]

Dog                              [dɒg]                                       [dɔ:g]

Gone                            [gɒn]                                       [gɔ:n]

Got                               [gɒt]                                         [gɒ:t]

Hot                               [hɒt]                                         [hɒ:t]

Job                                [ʤɒb]                                     [ʤɒ:b]

Lot                                [lɒt]                                          [lɒ:t]

Not                                [nɒt]                                         [nɒ:t]

Off                                 [ɒf]                                         [ɒ:f] or [ɔ:f]

Possible                         [ˈpɒsəbl]                                 [ˈpɒ:səbl]

Sorry                             [ˈsɒri]                                      [ˈsɒ:ri] or [ˈsɔ:ri]

Stop                               [stɒp]                                      [stɒ:p]

Want                              [wɒnt]                                      [wɒ:nt] or [wɔ:nt]

Wasn’t                           [wɒznt]                                     [wΛznt]

What                              [wɒt]                                         [wɒ:t] or [wΛt]

 

 

According to John C. Wells, in the areas of Eastern New England, such as the Boston accent, and New York City this change did not take place. This is coherent with the same theory explaining why speakers of those areas are non-rhotic.

 

This change is framed in the context of the many vowel transformations that occurred during the 17th and 18th centuries. The change of vowel [ɒ] to [ɒ:] and [ɔ:] took place because of two phonological phenomena, namely, the father-bother merger and the lot-cloth split. A split is when a once identical sound happens to have a different pronunciation in some instances; usually both sounds coexist. A

merger is the opposite, two sound that had formerly been contrastive become pronounced alike so they are no longer considered different. A split can be viewed as the appearance of a new sound and a merger as the disappearance of an existing sound.

 

1. The father-bother merger. This merger is responsible for the transformation of [ɒ] into [ɑ:]. Vowel [ɒ] underwent two main changes: first, it was lengthened to [ɒ:], and later it lost its roundedness becoming finally [ɑ:]. Roundedness is perhaps the most distinctive difference between [ɒ] and [ɑ:] in daily speech rather than vowel length. This change took off in all varieties of American English, except for the areas of Eastern New England. The merger was quite generalized and by the end of 19th century was completely consolidated. Examples illustrating this merger are bother [bɑ:ðər], doss [d ɑ:s], top [tɑ:p], lot [lɑ:t], model [mɑ:dl], problem [prɑ:blɑ:m], rock [rɑ:k], slot [slɑ:t].

 

2. The lot-cloth split. This split came about at the end of 17th century. The sound [ɒ] was first lengthened to [ɒ:] and later raised to [ɔ:]. In principle, the split took place before voiceless fricatives [f], [θ], [s], but later it was extended to velars like [k], [g], and [ŋ]. Thus, in GA we find loft [lɔ:ft], Cloth [klɔ:θ],Lost [lɔ:st], chocolate [ʧɔ:klət], dog [dɔ:g], and long [lɔ:ŋ] are pronounced as [ɔ:], whereas in RP they are systematically pronounced as [ɒ].

 

There is a certain degree of overlap between both phenomena. For example, it is possible to find words with two pronunciations such as loft ([lɔ:ft] and [lɑ:ft]), chocolate ([ʧɔ:klət] and [ʧɔ:klət]), or long ([lɔ:ŋ] and [lɔ:ŋ]). However, the father-bother merger acted upon a larger number of words than the lot-cloth split did.

 

3. Changes to [oʊ] and [Λ]

 

The most frequent changes are from [ɒ] to [ɑ:] and [ɔ:]. However, in a very few cases vowel [ɒ] is changed to [oʊ] and [Λ]. Here we have a list with the main examples.

 

• Change to [oʊ]: in RP compost is [ˈkɒmpɒst], but in GA it is [ˈkɑ:mpoʊst]. Other words are: impost, pogrom (in the second syllable), produce (as noun), provost, riposte, scone, shalom.

 

• Change to [Λ]: hovel, hover, therefrom, wasn’t.

 

 

2.1.4. Change from [ju:] to [u:]

 

Around the beginning of twentieth century several changes took place in the English vowels. One of them was the so-called yod-dropping , the omission of sound [j] before [u:]. The change is named after the Hebrew letter yod, which represents the sound [j]. Both RP and GA embraced the change, although GA extended the cases in which yod-dropping was applied.

 

• Yod-dropping before [u:] takes place in RP and GA in the following cases.

 

• After the post-alveolar affricates [ʧ] and [ʤ], as in chew [ʧu:], juice [ʤu:s], and Jew [ʤu:s].

 

• After [r], as in rude [ru:d], prude [pru:d], shrewd [ʃru:d], and extrude [Ikˈstru:d].

 

• After clusters formed by a consonant followed by [l], as in blue [blu:], flu [flu:], and slew [slu:].

 

Apart from this common corpus of words, in GA as well as in many other varieties of English we observe yod-dropping in further cases.

 

• After [s] and [z], as in suit [su:t], Zeus [zu:s], assume [əˈsu:m], and hirsute

[ˈh3:rsu:t].

 

• After [l], as in lute [lu:t], and pollute [pəˈlu:t].

 

• Especially in GA, after [t], [d], and [n], as in tune [tu:n], stew [stu:], student [ˈstu:dənt], dew [du:], duty [ˈdu:tI], produce [prəˈdu:s], and new [nu:]. Notice that spellings eu, ue, ui, ew, and u followed by consonant plus vowel frequently
• correspond to sounds [ju:], or just [u:] if yod-dropping has taken effect.

 

 

2.1.5. Change of [æ]

 

Around the American Revolutionary War vowel [æ] started to undergo a change in Southern English, the future seed of RP. This near-open front unrounded vowel [æ] is first lengthened to [æ:] and later lowered to the open back unrounded vowel [ɑ:]. However, the change did not take off in GA, bringing about a new difference between both accents.

 

The change of vowel occurs under certain conditions, but it is deemed to be inconsistent, as we will see in the examples below. Vowel [æ] becomes vowel [ɑ:] in RP when:

 

• Vowel [æ] is before sounds [s], [f], and [θ], as in pass, calf, and path.

 

• Vowel [æ] is followed by consonant clusters such as [ns], [nt], [nʧ], and [mpl], as in dance, can’t, ranch, and sample.

 

• The changes are not applied before other consonants, as in cat, pal, cab, and drag.

 

Here there are some examples to illustrate the above rules as well as a few exceptions.

 

Words pronounced with [æs] in GA but with [ɑ:s] in RP: brass, class, glass, grass, passmast, past, master, plaster, clasp, grasp, gasp, mask, task, ask, basket. Exceptions: crass, gas, lass, mass, astronaut, pastel.

 

• Words pronounced with [æf] in GA but with [ɑ:f] in RP: calf, graph, giraffe, half, laugh, staff, after, craft, daft, draft, laughter, raft, shaft.

 

• Words pronounced with [æθ] in GA with [ɑ:θ] in RP: bath, lath, path. Exceptions: hath, maths, athlete, decathlon.

 

• Words pronounced with [ænt] in GA with [ɑ:nt] in RP: aunt, plant, can’t, advantage. Exceptions: ant, banter, scant, mantle.

 

• Words pronounced with [æmp] in GA with [ɑ:mp] in RP: sample, example. Exceptions: trample, ample.

 

It has been conjectured that the more common a word is, the more likely the change from [æ] to [ɑ:] is to occur.

 

 

2.1.6. Minor changes

 

Other changes took place, but they were in most cases inconsistent and without a clear phonological reason to happen.

 

 

2.1.6.1 Change of [I] and [aI]

 

In some cases the pronunciation of lax vowel [I] in RP becomes other vowels, mainly diphthong [aI] and [ə] in the suffix -ization.

 

• For the change to [aI], here we have a few examples: dynasty, privacy, simultaneously, vitamin.

 

• In the suffix -ization, pronounced as [aIˈzeIʃn] in RP, the diphthong [aI] is transformed into the unstressed and neutral vowel sound [ə], resulting in the pronunciation [əˈzeIʃn] in GA. Examples of this change are: authorization, centralization, civilization, colonization, dramatization, fertilization, globalization, hybridization, legalization, localization, mobilization, modernization, neutralization, normalization, optimization, organization, privatization, specialization, synchronization, urbanization, visualization.

 

2.1.6.2 Changes of [i:] and [e]

 

Sometimes, swaps between vowels [i:] and [e] are also found. Here we have a few instances.

 

• Change of [i:] in RP to [e] in GA: aesthetic, devolution, epoch, evolution, febrile, predecessor.

 

• Change of [e] in RP to [i:] in GA: cretin, depot, leisure, medieval, zebra.

 

 

2.2. Differences in consonant pronunciation

2.2.1. Classifying the consonants sounds of English according to the manner and place of articulation

According to the manner of articulation (how the breath is used) the consonants are: stops, also known as plosives, fricatives, affricates, nasals, laterals, and approximants. Nasals, laterals and approximants are always voiced; stops, fricatives and affricates can be voiced or unvoiced.

Table 4. Classifying the consonants sounds of English according to the manner of articulation

Stops  /Plosives/	During production of these sounds, the airflow from the lungs is completely blocked at some point, then released. In English, they are /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, and /g/.
Fricatives	The flow of air is constricted, but not totally stopped or blocked. In English, these include /f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/,  /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, and /h/.
Affricates	These sounds begin like stops, with a complete blockage of air/closure of the vocal tract, and end with a restricted flow of air like fricatives. English has two affricates - the /ʧ/ sounds of "church" and the /ʤ/ of "judge".
Nasals	Nasals are sounds made with air passing through the nose. In English, these are /m/, /n/, and /ŋ/.
Laterals	Lateral consonants allow the air to escape at the sides of the tongue. In English there is only one such sound - /l/
Approximants	In the production of an approximant, one articulator is close to another, but the vocal tract is not narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced. In English, these are /j/, /w/* and /r/. Approximants /j/ and /w/ are also referred to as semi-vowels.

According to the place of articulation (where in the mouth or throat the sound is produced) the consonants are shown in the table 5.

Table 5. Classifying the consonants sounds of English according to the place of articulation

Bilabial: with both lips	/p/, /b/, /m/
Labiodental: between lower lip and upper teeth	/f/, /v/
Dental/Interdental: between the teeth	/θ/, /ð/
Alveolar: the ridge behind the upper front teeth	/t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/, /r/
Alveo-palatal (or post-alveolar): it is the area between  the alveolar ridge and the hard palate	/ʃ/, /ʒ/, / ʧ /, /ʤ/
Palatal: hard palate, or 'roof' of the mouth'	/j/
Velar: the soft palate or velum	/k/, /g/, /ŋ/
Glottal (laryngeal): space between the vocal cords	/h/

 

The consonants in the table above are the consonant phonemes of RP (Received Pronunciation) and GA (General American), that is, the meaning distinguishing consonant sounds (c.f. pat – bat).

 

/p/  put, supper, lip                                     /ʃ/  show, washing, cash

/b/  bit, ruby, pub                                       /ʒ/  leisure, vision

/t/  two, letter**, cat                                  /h/  home, ahead

/d/  deep, ladder**, read                             /ʧ/  chair, nature, watch

/k/  can, lucky, sick                                     /ʤ/ jump, pigeon, bridge

/g/  gate, tiger, dog                                      /m/ man, drummer, comb

/f/  fine, coffee, leaf                                     /n/  no, runner, pin

/v/  van, over, move                                     /ŋ/  young, singer

/θ/  think, both                                              /l/  let***, silly, fall

/ð/  the, brother, smooth                               /r/  run, carry, (GA car)

/s/  soup, fussy, less                                      /j/  you, yes

/z/  zoo, busy, use                                          /w/  woman, way

 

* /w/ is a voiced labio-velar approximant (semi-vowel).

 

** In American English ‘letter’ and ‘ladder’ may also be pronounced with an aalveolar flap [ɾ]: [ˈleɾɚ] [ˈlæɾɚ].

 

*** In many varieties of British English (including RP) there is a distinction between clear l [l] and dark (velarised) l [ɫ]. Clear l comes before vowels (e.g. ‘let’[let], ‘silly’ [ˈsɪli]), whereas dark l comes after vowels (e.g. ‘milk’ [mɪɫk]) or at the end of a word (e.g. ‘fall’ [fɔːɫ]). In American English dark l [ɫ] is used in all positions.

 

2.2.2. Pronunciation of letter t

In American English letter t is pronounced in six different ways:

• As an aspirated sound [tʰ], when it is the first sound of a word, as in temping [ˈtʰemptIŋ], or in an inner and stressed position, as in potential  [pəˈthen ʃ l].
• As an de-aspirated sound [t], when the syllable does not carry the stress, as in thesecond t in tempting [ˈtʰemptIŋ], or after [s] as in stop [stɑ:p], or at the ends of syllablesas in pet [pet], or patsy [ˈpætsi].
• As a flapped sound [r], the most distinguishing allophone, which consists of pronoun-cing an alveolar flap instead of the plosive dental [tʰ] or de-aspirated [t]. This change occurs when t is at an intervocalic position, the first vowel being stressed, as in water [ˈwɔ:tər]. This phenomenon also applies when words are linked together in a full prosodic unit, as in the sentence What is this? [ˈwʌrIzˈðIz] when uttered it in colloquial register.
• As a glottal stop [ʔ]. A glottal stop is a voiceless sound produced by the obstruction of the airflow in the vocal tract. The glottis is the organ that actually prevents the airfrom passing through the vocal tract. The glottal stop substitutes the de-aspirated [t] sound at the end of words, as in put [pu ʔ] or report[rIˈpɔ:r ʔ], and also in the presence of a stressed syllable followed by patterns [t+vowel+n] or [tn], as in button [ˈbʌ ʔn], or continent [ˈkA:nʔInənt].
• As a glottalized stop [tʔ]. In a glottalized [tʔ] the stop [t] and the glottal stop [ʔ] areproduced at the same time. For its production, this allophone follows the same rulesas the glottal stop does. Example where this sound can be found are mutton [ˈmʌtʔn], or curtain [ˈk3:rtʔn].
• The sound [t] could be completely omitted in some circumstances. In the presence of the pattern formed by a stressed vowel followed by [nt], sound [t] is not pronounced in some varieties of GA. Thus, we can hear winter [ˈwInə] or center [ˈsenər].

Both GA and RP have aspirated and de-aspirated [t] sounds, which, in a formal or simplycareful enunciation, are the only two sounds corresponding to stop [t]. In colloquial and otherregisters, the other allophones may appear. In the RP the flap [t] is never used, but insteadit is pronounced as a de-aspirated [t] or as a glottalized [t]. Glottal stops are common in both varieties of English and follow similar rulesin general. The omission of the sound [t] in RP can also be found.

 

2.3. Rhotic Accent

The presence of the rhotic accent is one of the most noticeable differences between British and American English. Except for New York City and the area of Boston, American English is rhotic. British English is largely non-rhotic, save for Scotland and Ireland.

Rhotic accent refers to the manner letter r is pronounced after a vowel within a syllable, as in words such as hard, borne, or here. Sometimes, it is also called post-vocalic [r], or r-coloring, a term highlighting the timbre features of the sound. In English, rhotic accent is produced as a retroflex approximant. The following words have rhotic accent: York, quarter, four, born, door, water, later, hers, heard, hurt, university, were, birth, thirty, ear, nearly, air, where.

Let us describe now how the rhotic accent, the retroflex approximant, is produced. First, the tongue approaches the gum and the tip is then curled back towards the roof of the mouth. This movement makes the tongue to be pulled back in the mouth. This accounts for the retroflexion part of the consonant. Furthermore, the tip of the tongue does not touch the gum at all, and thus no friction is caused. The vocal tract remains open throughout. This justifies the term approximant; in other sounds, like the stop [d], the tongue actually touches the gum. The phonetic symbol for the retroflex approximant is [ɻ]. Apart from sound [ɻ], responsible for the rhotic accent of American English, letter r can be pronounced in other two ways.

• As the alveolar approximant [ɹ]. Sound [ɹ] appears at prevocalic positions in a syllable or syllable-clusters, as in red [ɹed], camera [ˈkæməɹə], train [tɹeIn], confrontation [kɑ:nfɹənˈteISn], or program [ˈpɹ oʊgɹæm].

 

• As the alveolar flap [r]. In American English, very often in colloquial registers, sound[ɹ] at intervocalic position with the stress on the first vowel is substituted [r], as in parish [ˈpærIʃ], or lurid [ˈlʊrId]; however, notice that camera is pronounced as [ˈkæməɹə] because the vowel before letter r is not stressed. This alveolar flap also appears substituting an [ɹ] at intervallic position between two words linked together in a sentence. For example, the sentence “One beer is enough" is pronounced as [wʌnˈbiərIzIˈnʌf]; notice the change from [ɹ] (or [ɻ]) to [r] in beer.

 

The alveolar flap [r] only occurs in American English, while the alveolar approximant [ɹ] is found in both accents. For the sake of simplicity, we will use the symbol [r] for the three allophones (variants) of letter r, and the rules drawn up below will make the context unambiguous. In most dictionaries, the three sounds are also indicated by [r]. For example, in the Oxford English Dictionary we find hard [hɑ:d] and hard [hɑ:rd], the former being the British version and the latter its American counterpart.

 

Returning to rhotic accent, it can be found associated with the following sound:

Long vowels [ɑ:], [ɔː], and [3:], as in hard [hɑ:rd], borne [hɔːrn], and hurt [h3:rt], respectively.

 

• After the short sound schwa [ə] in the comparative endings, as in later [ˈleItər], or taller [ˈtɔːlər].

 

• Diphthongs ending by sound schwa [Iə] and [eə], as in here [hIər], and there [ðeər], respectively.

 

• The combination [jʊ], as in cure [kjʊr], or pure [pjʊr].

 

• After the short sound [ʊ], as in poor [pʊr], moor [mʊr], or boor [bʊr].

 

Furthermore, rhotic accent is produced according to the following circumstances.

 

• There is rhotic accent when a word is pronounced in isolation or at the end of a prosodic break. For example, It was very hard.

 

• The rhotic accent is lost when the letter r does not belong to the same syllable. Compare water [ˈwɔːtəɻ] and watery [ˈwɔːtəɹi].

 

• If within a prosodic unit the last syllable of a words ends by [ɻ] and the next word begins by a vowel, then the rhotic consonant is substituted by [ɹ] or [r], depending on the particular accent. For example, the sentence That water is cold is pronounced as [ðætˈwɔːtəɹIzˈkoʊld]; notice the change from [ɻ] to [ɹ] in water.

 

It is documented that up to 1776, when the American Revolution broke out, there was no such thing as British and American accents. Both were indistinguishable.

 

“Received Pronunciation developed at the end of the eighteenth century, during

the period of the American Revolution. At that time there was no pronunciation by which people in America could be distinguished from people in England. In the impressment controversies of the 1790s, naval officers on both sides found it so difficult to tell whether sailors were British or American that the American government considered providing certificates of citizenship (D. Simpson).”

 

Towards the end of 18th century the upper classes of Southern England started to remove the rhotic accent as a way of marking class distinction. Gradually, the new accent took off and middle classes adopted it as well. Scotland and Ireland, where the population was mainly composed of lower working classes, did not take on the change of accent, and at the present time both remains rhotic. In America there are two notable exceptions, namely, New York and New England areas. It has been hypothesized that those areas kept the non-rhototic accent because of their strong links with the British.

 

2.4. Stress

2.4.1. Change of Stress

So far major differences in pronunciation between British and American English have beendescribed in terms of change of vowels and consonants. The change of stress, although notbeing as marked, also contributes to differentiate both accents. We will examine three areaswhere worth mentioning differences are found, namely, the French loanwords, the ending-ate, and the suffixes -ary, -ory, -berry, and -mony.

 

2.4.2. French Loanwords

In 1066 William of Normandy invaded England. That would mark the beginning of Normanrule of the England, which would last for about four hundred years, until the end of theHundred Years War. In a first stage, the Norman took over the power and decided to change the language of government as well as impose new institutions inspired in the French ones.

However, they let low- and middle-classes speak English. In this period, loanwords come from the domains of political, social and diplomatic activity. In a second stage, which could be dated at between 1250 and 1400, French started to be used by the population. The reason was that many Normans had to permanently settle in England as Normandy was bought by the French king in 1204, and many Normans migrated to England. The number of loanwords proliferated as the Normans -which now did include low- and middle-classes brought new experiences and ways to name objects. In a third stage, from 1400 on, most of the loanwords are related to the domain of culture.

Loanwords from French were adapted by American English in a different way than there were by British English. Change of stress is the most noticeable difference. In GA French loanwords have a final-syllable stress, while RP stresses an earlier syllable. It seems that the American English phonology has respected the fixed accent of the French language, which in most cases falls on the last syllable. A few examples of this change of stress are the following.

• First-syllable stress in RP but second-syllable stress in GA: adult, baton, beret, bidet,blas´e, brochure, buffet, caf´e, chalet, chauffeur, clich´e, coup´e, debris, debut, d´ecor, de-tail, flamb´e, frapp´e, garage, parquet, pˆ at´e, pr´ecis, sachet, salon, vaccine. With morethan two syllables we have matin´ee, n´eglig´ee, nonchalant. (The word matin´ee  has acertainly difficult pronunciation                   [-mætnˈeI].)

• Second-syllable stress in RP but last-syllable stress in GA: attach´e, consomm´e, d´ecollet´e, fianc´e(e).

• Common words where GA has a first-syllable stress and RP has last-syllable are address, cigarette, magazine.

 

2.4.3. Ending -ate

Words ending in -ate, mostly verbs, have a different stress pattern in both accents dependingon the length of the word.

• Most 2-syllable verbs ending in -ate have first-syllable stress in GA and second-syllablestress in RP. This includes dictate, donate, locate, migrate, placate, pulsate, rotate. There are exceptions where both pronunciations agree, as in abate, checkmate, duplicate, evacuate, graduate, imitate.

• Most longer -ate verbs are pronounced the same in GA and RP. There are a few exceptions where in RP has a first-syllable stress and in GA a second-syllable stress, as in elongate, remonstrate, tergiversate.

 

2.4.4. Suffixes -ary, -ory, -berry, and -mony

There are a few differences in pronunciation of suffixes -ary, -ory, -berry, and -mony betweenboth accents.

• Suffix -ary: In general, in GA suffixes -ary is pronounced as [eri], whereas in RP thepronunciation is [əri]. Examples of this difference are contrary, corollary, honorary,imaginary, sedentary. In some cases in RP, the sound schwa is even elided, as in military [ˈmIlItri] or momentary [ˈməʊməntri].

• Suffix -ory: We will describe two rules along with some exceptions. If the preceding syllable is unstressed, then RP still keeps the pronunciation [eri], but GA prefers [ɔːri], as in accusatory, amatory, derogatory, exclamatory, laudatory, mandatory, mi-gratory, nugatory, premonitory, recriminatory, repudiatory. When the preceding syllable is stressed in most cases RP drops the sound schwa and GA keeps the sound [ɔː], as in conservatory, pronounced [kənˈs3:vtri] in British English and [kənˈs3:rvtɔːri] in American English. Other examples are inventory, laboratory, lavatory, inflammatory, obligatory, oratory, predatory, repository, signatory, suppository, territory, transitory. Exceptions to this last rule are advisory, contradictory, compulsory, cursory, illusory, peremptory, rectory, satisfactory, where both accents pronounce [əri].

• Suffix -berry: In general, GA tends to pronounce the full suffix as [beri] and RP tendsto either substitute [e] by schwa, yielding [əri], or even elide the first vowel, yielding simply [bri], especially in informal or quick speech.